Rory A Cooper

Medal Laureate Rory A. Cooper, PhD, PLY is the founding director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a joint center of the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He is Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for STEM-Health Sciences Collaborations at Pitt, and a FISA Foundation – Paralyzed Veterans of America Distinguished Professor and VA Research Scientist. Cooper has authored or co-authored over 400 peer-reviewed journal publications. He has over 30 patents awarded or pending. He is the author of two books: "Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility and Manipulation” and “Wheelchair Selection and Configuration”, and co-editor of “An Introduction to Rehabilitation Engineering”, “Warrior Transition Leader: Medical Rehabilitation Handbook” and the award-winning book “Care of the Combat Amputee”. Cooper is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, as well as RESNA, IEEE, AIMBE and BMES. In October 2023, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the President of the United States, and he was inducted into the 50th class of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. His students have won numerous awards and are leaders throughout the world.

His R&D interests span: Wheelchair engineering; Wearable & robotic assistive technology; Smart accessibility systems. His work is grounded in participatory design with individuals with disabilities, aiming to bridge STEM and health sciences to drive high-impact, interdisciplinary innovation.